Why I am not a Zionist5 Nov 2009rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rI have come to realize it is actually simple and clear. I am a Jewish-American man in solidarity with the Palestinian people. Justice and resistance to imperialism is a global, human concern for all people. For Jews, yes, but not Jews alone. For Palestinians, yes, but not Palestinians alone. It will take us all to push and demand governments and corporate interests to create fair, equitable living conditions. It will take all peoples to hold history accountable for the atrocities that occur. Kevin Coval comments for The Electronic Intifada.
J Street conference only step one4 Nov 2009rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rWas the recently held J Street conference the herald of an incipient peace treaty in Israel-Palestine? The supporters of the new lobby group hope so. Its name is a riff on K Street, the real Washington, DC address of many powerful lobbying firms. With a staff of 30 and a budget of millions, it has set itself up as the liberal alternative to AIPAC. Max Ajl comments for The Electronic Intifada.
New York Mets called on to cancel settlement fundraiser4 Nov 2009rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rEleven organizations from the US, Palestine and Israel have called on baseball’s New York Mets to cancel a 21 November dinner at the Caesars Club at Citi Field for the Brooklyn-based Hebron Fund. The dinner is a fundraiser for Israeli settlers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank City of Hebron.
Book review: “A World I Loved”4 Nov 2009rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr r”This is my story, the story of an Arab woman,” Wadad Makdisi Cortas states in the opening line of her memoir A World I Loved. Born Wadad Makdisi in Beirut in 1909, which at that time was considered a part of Syria, she discovered Arab nationalism at a young age and lived a life true to the idea in every sense. Cortas believed passionately that Arabs, in order to protect their culture and values, should liberate themselves from Western colonialism which sought to impose its ways and divide the people. Matthew Cassel reviews for The Electronic Intifada.
Gazans not allowed to rebuild their lives4 Nov 2009rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rAzzam Salim used to be one of the leading construction contractors in the central Gaza Strip. Today, however, he spends most of his days idly chatting with other unemployed friends near a bank that he helped build several years ago. “As a human first and foremost, I need to live normally like before.” Rami Almeghari reports from the occupied Gaza Strip.
Israel’s anti-Semitic friends3 Nov 2009rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rThere can be few supporters of the Palestinians, still less anti-Zionists, who haven’t, at some time or another, been accused of “anti-Semitism.” Accusations that anti-Zionism equals anti-Semitism have become little more than a ritual exercise in defamation. Tony Greenstein comments for The Electronic Intifada.
Rights groups: UN General Assembly must adopt Goldstone recommendations3 Nov 2009rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rOn 4 November 2009, the Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict (Goldstone Report) is scheduled to be tabled before the Plenary of the UN General Assembly in New York. Following the Report’s endorsement at the Human Rights Council on 21 October 2009, it now falls to the General Assembly to ensure that the Report is endorsed and its recommendations acted upon.
Rights groups condemn bid to quash Goldstone report3 Nov 2009rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rWASHINGTON (IPS) – International human rights groups have raised concern over a proposed non-binding resolution in the US House of Representatives which would call on the White House to oppose any future endorsement or consideration of Judge Richard Goldstone’s “Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict.”
Israeli physicists supply solar and wind power to Palestinian herders3 Nov 2009rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rSUSYA, occupied West Bank (IPS) – Hundreds of impoverished Palestinian herders and farmers living in caves and tents in a remote area of the Palestinian West Bank have been provided free electricity due to the ingenuity of two Israeli physicists.
Legal action against Israel increases over Gaza assault2 Nov 2009rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rRAMALLAH, occupied West Bank (IPS) – As the legal and moral implications of the UN Goldstone report on Israel’s military assault on Gaza continue to mount, Palestinians in Gaza are taking matters into their own hands and preparing civil lawsuits. The Israeli defense ministry’s prosecution department has received about 1,500 notices of future civil lawsuits against the Israeli military.
Gaza activists organize to harvest2 Nov 2009rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rBEIT HANOUN, occupied Gaza Strip (IPS) – Formed in September 2007, Local Initiative has a number of other mandates: promoting volunteerism; reaching out to marginalized families living in the regions along the Green Line border between Israel and Gaza; giving psycho-social support to children scarred by Israeli military attacks and shooting; financially assisting children with martyred parents; and improving the role of women and youth in society.
Homeless by Israeli policy30 Oct 2009rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rSUR BAHER, occupied East Jerusalem (IPS) – The latest round brings the number of East Jerusalem Palestinians displaced since the beginning of the year by forced evictions or house demolitions to over 600, according to figures released by UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestine refugees. Altogether on Tuesday, six buildings were knocked down, leaving 26 people homeless.
Israeli blockade strangling Gaza agriculture29 Oct 2009rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rRecently, Israel announced that it would import palm fronds from the Gaza Strip for the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. Initially, the decision to allow Gaza to export palm fronds seemed like an easing, however small, of the Israeli siege. But according to Gaza’s farmers, exporters and the Israeli non-governmental organization Gisha, it wasn’t. Mya Guarnieri reports for The Electronic Intifada.
Book review: The timeless work of Naji al-Ali29 Oct 2009rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rCartoonist Naji al-Ali was a towering figure in the Palestinian cultural and political scene. His daily political drawings were a knife-twisting, gut-wrenching journey into how Palestinians perceived their predicament. Toufic Haddad reviews A Child in Palestine: The Cartoons of Naji al-Ali for The Electronic Intifada.
Israel targeting grassroots activists28 Oct 2009rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rOCCUPIED EAST JERUSALEM (IPS) – Israeli authorities are increasingly targeting and intimidating nonviolent Palestinian grassroots activists involved in anti-occupation activities who are drawing increased support from the international community.
Shot after photographing the Gaza sea28 Oct 2009rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rOn 4 October, Ashraf Abu Suleiman, a 16-year-old from Gaza’s Jabaliya refugee camp, went to the northwest coast town of Sudaniya to visit an ill school friend. The teen then went to the sea, where he rolled up the legs of his pants, waded into the water and enjoyed the late summer morning. Minutes later, Ashraf was running in blind terror as Israeli soldiers in a gunboat off the coast began shooting at Palestinian fishermen. Eva Bartlett reports from the occupied Gaza Strip.
Israeli minister’s speech disrupted at London university27 Oct 2009rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rStudents protested and disrupted a lecture on Monday at the London School of Economics (LSE) by Daniel Ayalon, the controversial Deputy Foreign Minister of Israel. More than 50 students and activists greeted Ayalon outside of the lecture on LSE’s campus with placards and banners, while inside audience members heckled the controversial minister as a “racist” and “murderer” in relation to the illegal occupation and violence carried out by the Israeli state.
Israeli banks entrenched in settlement building27 Oct 2009rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rSeveral Western pension funds and financial managers hold shares in two Israeli banks: Bank Hapoalim and Bank Leumi. Both banks operate in and offer loans to finance illegal settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian and Syrian territories. Adri Nieuwhof reports for The Electronic Intifada.
Book review: How aid hurt Palestine26 Oct 2009rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rInternational relations specialist Anne Le More’s first monograph, International Assistance to the Palestinians after Oslo, the first in Routledge’s Studies on the Arab-Israeli Conflict series, provides an important critique of the belief that reconstruction, development and humanitarian aid form essential counterparts to political processes aimed at resolving longstanding violent conflicts. Ali Abunimah reviews.
What does China’s ascendance mean for Palestine?26 Oct 2009rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rGeorge Habash, the late leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), called China Palestine’s “best friend.” Indeed, he was on an official PFLP visit to China when the conflict between Palestinian forces and the Hashemite Kingdom erupted in Jordan in 1970, the events later known as “Black September.” However, if there are actors today hoping that China might offer an alternative to US hegemony and pushing the international community into a more just position on Palestine, it is not likely to happen soon—if ever. Sarah Irving analyzes for The Electronic Intifada.
Audio: Interviews with Olmert protesters in San Francisco23 Oct 2009rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rLast night, 22 activists were arrested at Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s speech to the World Affairs Council at the Westin St. Francis Hotel at Union Square in downtown San Francisco. More than 250 individuals were protesting outside the hotel and Nora Barrows-Friedman, senior producer of Flashpoints on Pacifica Radio, was on the scene, interviewing those who had gathered to voice their outrage at Olmert’s presence.
Why I disrupted Olmert23 Oct 2009rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rIf former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had merely been a diplomat or an academic offering a controversial viewpoint, then interrupting his 15 October speech at University of Chicago’s Mandel Hall would certainly have been an attempt to stifle debate. But confronting a political leader suspected of war crimes and crimes against humanity cannot be viewed the same way. Ali Abunimah comments for The Electronic Intifada.
VIDEO: Citizens arrest, disruption of Olmert in San Francisco23 Oct 2009rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rTwenty-two activists were arrested at Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s speech to the World Affairs Council on 22 October between 6:30 and 7:30pm at the Westin St. Francis Hotel at Union Square in San Francisco. Inside the auditorium, activists began disrupting the event by placing Olmert under citizens arrest.
Israeli Jews take on settlers23 Oct 2009rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rAWARTA, occupied West Bank (IPS) – Away from the media spotlight that focuses on the widening chasm between Israelis and Palestinians, a group of Israeli humanists is quietly working to break down barriers with their Palestinian neighbors. Rabbi Arik Ascherman, director of Israel’s Rabbis for Human Rights, has been used as a human shield, arrested, and beaten up several times by Israeli security forces while defending Palestinians.
Book review: Shlomo Sand’s “The Invention of the Jewish People”22 Oct 2009rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rFew recent books have aroused more interest and been more frequently reviewed in the US and Europe prior to the appearance of an English version as historian Shlomo Sand’s The Invention of the Jewish People. Raymond Deane reviews for The Electronic Intifada.
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